Looking at the links: SID initiative to probe connections between chronic disease, skin disorders

Washington - The Society for Investigative Dermatology (SID) launched its multi-year initiative on the Burden of Skin Disease Co-Morbidities at an invitational scientific conference Oct. 15-16 in Bethesda, Md.

The purpose of the project is to explore connections between chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular and psychiatric disease, and many skin conditions, according to a society press release.

The goal of the Bethesda conference was to establish the framework for the project. The conference assembled nationally renowned researchers and clinicians in psychiatry, oncology, cardiology and dermatology from the academic, governmental and industry sectors.

"Emerging research has begun to demonstrate an association between certain chronic diseases and skin disorders," said Lowell Goldsmith, M.D., M.P.H., SID's senior scientific and medical adviser, in a prepared statement. "The pivotal question for the research community is whether this relationship is coincidental or causal."

To explore that question, SID plans to develop a number of project components over the course of the next two years. These will include:

"Based on anecdotal on-site commentary and the written evaluations of meeting participants this launch conference, which is hopefully the first step in an expanded process, was an enormous success," said Robert Swerlick, M.D., SID secretary-treasurer and a member of the project steering committee, in a prepared statement.

In addition to SID, the conference was supported through educational grants from Abbott Immunology, Amgen/Wyeth, Centocor and OSI Pharmaceuticals.

Detailed information on the conference and the project can be found at http://www.sidnetcommunity.org/como.htm.